Ideas for a memorable Eagle Court of Honor

Try these readers’ tips to make your troop’s next eagle scout court of honor memorable.

Don’t stifle creativityAs the father of two Eagle Scouts (and soon three), I have been involved in planning and performing Eagle ceremonies. Here is some of what I have learned.

The ceremony should be what the Eagle wants, followed by what his parents want, and then what the troop can do to support the Eagle and parents. Never let imagination be overruled by troop traditions or “ceremony by committee.” There is no right or wrong (or official) ceremony. — Assistant Scoutmaster C.H.; Whittier, Calif.

Inspire the next generation of EaglesDuring my oldest son’s Eagle ceremony, he called up his younger brother as well as my husband and me. After receiving his Eagle neckerchief and presenting our parents’ pins, Kyle gave his troop neckerchief and pewter pin of a flying Eagle to his brother with the charge that he, too, become an Eagle Scout. — Webelos Den Leader T.M.; Snohomish, Wash.

Display your memories
For each of my sons’ Eagle ceremonies, I put together a three-minute photo slideshow beginning with their first pinewood derby cars, following with their adventures in Webelos Scouting, into Boy Scouting, summer camp, their entry into the Order of the Arrow and their Eagle Scout service projects. As background music, I used the movie soundtrack from the movie “Last of the Mohicans.”

Almost 20 years later, the slide show is still occasionally requested for special events and to recruit new Scouts. On one occasion, the show even recruited a Cubmaster. — Council Camping Committee Member L.S.; Ballwin, Mo.

Honor troop traditions
Troop 102 has produced 69 Eagle Scouts in its 30 years and has established a number of traditions for successful Eagle Scout courts of honor. Here are a few.

Eagle Presentation Kit: It includes the Eagle Scout medal and embroidered patch, a pin for the Eagle’s mother and a tie tack for his father.

Flowers: The troop provides a red rose for the Eagle’s mother, grandmothers and sisters.

Eagle Display Case: We have a walnut display case with space for 100 brass plaques for Eagles and 20 for Scoutmasters. The new Eagle’s name and the date of his board of review are engraved on his plate, which he fastens to the case as part of the Eagle ceremony.

Indian Headdress: The troop has an Indian chief ceremonial headdress, which was made by an Order of the Arrow member. As part of his court of honor, the new Eagle adds a large white feather. The headdress is used for Webelos Scout graduation ceremonies and for the troop’s OA calling-out ceremonies.

Recognition: Have an adult leader write letters requesting proclamations and other recognitions from local, state and federal officials. Display them at the court of honor. — Assistant Scoutmaster R.L.B.; Madison, Wis.

Put the Scout in charge
When a Scout in our troop completes the requirements for Eagle, he is totally in charge of what, where, and how the ceremony occurs.

We have had Eagle ceremonies at camp-outs, troop retreats, quarterly courts of honor, even at a boy’s home. Every ceremony has been unique and exciting to watch develop, and it is even more exciting to see the leadership that each new Eagle Scout gives to its preparation. His parents are encouraged to support the Scout or to limit him as they see fit, but to allow him to develop the ceremony. — Troop Committee Chairman E.H.; Chesterfield, Mo.

A true court of honorIn 40 years as a professional Scouter in six local councils, I have attended more than 500 Eagle courts of honor. One stands out.

The site was a real court, with a real judge in his robe. The bailiff wore a Scouter’s uniform. The prosecutor and defense attorney were Scouters who conferred in advance to plan questions and answers. The jury was 12 leading citizens and officials of the chartered organization.

Presentation of the case took less than an hour and covered such questions as: Why should this Life Scout become an Eagle? What does Scouting mean to the boy? What’s the value of a Good Turn? What does “Be Prepared” mean?

The judge read the jury’s verdict and declared the boy worthy to be an Eagle Scout. He then complimented the Scout, his parents, troop leaders, and all who touched his life on the trail to Eagle. The judge called the parents and boy to the bench and presented the Eagle badge. — Retired Scout Executive J.W.A.; San Diego, Calif.

Honor other top awards
Our troop’s Eagle court of honor master of ceremonies asks those who have earned the top awards in Scouting to stand, tell their name, and when and where they earned their award. Those invited to stand and be recognized are Eagle Scouts, King and Queen’s Scouts (we have a dad who is a Queen’s Scout), and Gold Award earners from the Girl Scouts. This is very impressive as part of the ceremony. —Troop Committee Member D.D.; Houston, Texas

Find ways to include younger ScoutsOur troop includes a part of the program designed to involve younger Scouts. Using a simple candle-lighting ceremony, a Scout recites the 12 points of the Scout Law. A voice from a hidden microphone reads the explanation for each point, but not from the current Boy Scout Handbook. I copied a few lines from the 1965 edition of the handbook. The “old style” language of the interpretation gives a fresh insight into the Scout Law that has both Scouts in the troop and graying heads nodding in agreement.

We use a similar idea to highlight the ranks leading up to Eagle, using a Scout of each rank to represent that rank. The involvement of the younger Scouts gives them a part in honoring the new Eagle and encourages them to advance to the top rank. — Scoutmaster E.W.; Sibley, Mo.

Speak from memoryOur troop believes the best Eagle Scout ceremony occurs when leaders, members of troop, and parents have a part in honoring the new Eagle. We have found it best for the speaker to memorize our Eagle court of honor script. This gives dignity and animation to the ceremony and holds the audience spellbound. No one blinks, except for tears.

The nice part about speaking from memory is that the speaker can add or subtract to his heart’s content as long as he covers the memorized parts. Also, the program can be broken into parts so that speakers are responsible for only short sections. — Scoutmaster M.D.K.; Brownstown, Ind.

A token of congratulationsOur last Eagle ceremony ended with everyone signing a National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) banner to give the new Eagle Scout as a keepsake. It makes a wonderful memento of the occasion. — Troop Committee Secretary J.A.; Middlefield, Conn.

A special neckerchief slide
I always made a one-of-a-kind slide for each of my Eagles. Each boy had exhibited some unique character trait or talent, or had gone through some experience that could be illustrated in the design of a neckerchief slide.

Presentation of the slide became part of the ceremony, giving me the opportunity to give special praise to the new Eagle. He would also have a memento to remind him to preserve the trait or talent that earned him the slide. — Scoutmaster R.P.; Murphy, Texas

A chieftan’s pole
For earning his Eagle badge, my son Chris was given a unique gift: a beaver-chewed birch log that had been decorated and carved to resemble a chieftan’s pole. This type of pole is used in some Native American cultures to recognize the person whose turn it is to speak. Chris suggested that we use it for his Eagle court of honor.

An Order of the Arrow member wearing full Indian costume was master of ceremonies. We adapted the traditional Trail to Eagle ceremony to center around an Indian youth who grows to become a full-fledged warrior. When guests came forward to make presentations, they were given the chieftan’s pole in turn. Finally, the pole was given to Chris for his response, a perfect end for the court of honor. — Troop Advancement Chairman G.R.K.; Orange, Calif.

Memorabilia on display
For my son’s Eagle court of honor last October, I made a display of all his Scouting memorabilia. I bought a science fair display board and glued or pinned on patches, certificates, and a Cub Scout T-shirt he had designed for his pack. In front of the board, I placed his pinewood derby cars, pottery, Indian lore items, etc.

Also in front was a new Cub Scout shirt on which I had sewn all of his badges; it was loaded! The display was a big hit. — P.W.; Raleigh, N.C.

The sky’s the limit
For my son’s Eagle court of honor last May, one of our V. I. P. guests who had been a prisoner of war arranged to have a military color guard for the ceremony. He had also secretly arranged for a flyover by an F-16 Phantom jet just as the color guard was presenting my son with an American flag. — Troop Committee Member L.M.; Lecompton, Kan.

36 Comments

Becoming an Eagle Scout was a goal that I had since my entry into Scouting, but one of the most important highlights of my becoming an Eagle Scout was knowing that my ceremony would be headed by the man who was self-appointed at putting those ceremonies on in my hometown, Mr. Robert Marion. It seems like not only was Mr. Marion active in Scouting, but whenever there was an event that benefited young people, Mr. Marion was there to make sure it was memorable. He’s been gone for years, but I will never forget my Eagle ceremony because of him!

When my Dad was Scoutmaster of my troop in the 1960’s, he heard the poem “High Flight” on TV when the station shut down for the night. He stayed up several nights to get the words right, and used it at Eagle Courts of Honor. Sadly, he never got to read that poem for any of his sons.

When my son made it to Eagle, my Mom and Dad came out for the ceremony, and he got to read it for his grandson. We live in Dayton, Ohio, so the next day, I took him out to the Air Force Museum, where there is a display honoring the young man who wrote the poem, an American son of missionaries to China, who also had English citizenship from his mother. He wrote the poem when he was 18 and a flier in the Eagle Squadron, during the Battle of Britain. he waskilled in an accident less than four months later. My dad loved learnng the full history of the poem.

Just having my son’s Eagle Court of Honor this past Sunday, the day is still fresh in my mind. We chose, as a family, to make the day more personal and light-hearted. The ceremony was somewhat traditional, but we interjected some humor where appropriate and my son got to “roast” his patrol – the boys that have been with him since Tigers and have come to be his best of friends. My younger son had the priviledge of pinning the Eagle medal on his brother. Very heartfelt speeches were given by people that are close to my son and who have been great mentors in his scouting career. Many tears were shed and the day will be one of my favorite memories forever.

I have, for many years now, intended to present MY Eagle Badge, hung along side with his new one, to remind my older grandson, and all present, that Scouting is a generational organization. He received his completed and approved application yesterday, from the council office. We might even bring along Grandmas Curved Bar. The equivalent of Eagle, in the Girl Scouts, back in the 60s. As I approach my 69th year of Scouting, Ive got one more grandson (now a Life Scout) to receive his Eagle, in a year or so. Its been a fabulous run.

I have 2 sons that have made Eagle within 2 months of each othe. Does anyone have any ideas on how to incorporate 2 boys instead of 1? The ceremony is in 3 weeks. So all suggestions are wonderful and welcome!! Please help!

Guess that is long past, but I received my Egle, along with 5 other boys, at a very large troop presentation, after I had graduated from high school, and was in the Army. It was an army troop, with 120 or so Scouts, and I was an Assistant SM. With the two of them, you can have the give the Scout Oath, and Eagle promise together, or one after the other, Present each Scout with his badge/scarf, etc. one at a time, while the other stands by, or assists in presentation to his brother.

Our boys recieved an arrow, when they crossed over from Cub Scouts. This arrow had a leather thong on it, with beads for each rank of CubScouts.
I incorporated this arrow into my son’s Eagle ceremony. I asked his former Cubmaster to speak about how, my son Ben, obtained this arrow. The Cubmaster then gave this arrow to the person who spoke of Ben’s Scouting carrier. This person then attached an Eagle feather,with beads for each rank of Boy Scouts, to the arrow. To me this completed the Scouting Cycle. From the Arrow of Light to Eagle, from Tiger,to Eagle.
It was different,and it was well recieved. ( You have to use a fake Eagle feather, because it is illeagle to possess a real one)

My son’s COH was in April with another scout. After the slideshow of the boys in scouts, we played the Latter Day Saint video of “Ma, you earned your Eagle” It lightened up the event, and got everyone laughing.

Being the mother of 3 Eagles, there are several things to keep in mind:
-This ceremony is a gift from the parents to the Eagle with the help of the Troop.
– Take pictures of the reception BEFORE THE CEREMONY so you will remember how it looked- especially any special cake.
– My son chose to give the honor of opening the court of honor to one of the oldest Eagles in the council. That gentleman is now deceased; so, those pictures are a special treasure.
-We had a friend video the service and have watched it many times.
-Being the Lodge chief (actually all 3 of my sons were elected to this honor) we invited several dignitaries from the council – several of which were Eagles and had a group picture of all the Eagles present- about 30 Eagles were there.
-Having the history of his Scout journey read as part of the ceremony was special since they all started as Tigers.
-I had arranged to have several “Thank you” gifts for my son to pass out to mentors (to include his grandfather).
-My sons each arranged a table of Scouting mementoes from his Scouting journey to include Pinewood Derby cars, tee shirts from the different Cub Day Camps attended, crafts he had made at camp, all 3 OA sashes, hats from different events, pictures of being on Summer Camp staff as well as pictures of his Eagle Project, and patches galore.
– Did I say “Take lots of pictures”? I have photo albums from each of my son’s ceremonies. They are my treasure now, but my sons will value them more when they are older.
– Be sure you have a good time…. and take lots of pictures.

Marines have the right idea. They award the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor in the field. That is followed by a formal Ceremony,i.e Graduation with in the same week. I think by fire, and star light, Ceremony i.e. Summer Camp, Camporee, etc… should be part of it. It would impress all the younger boys to strive for their Eagle Award too, who may not experience a Eagle Ceremony for years.

I am a webmaster for my son’s troop and have created a page for each of our Eagle Scouts’ projects. I had done this for my son as it was taking a while to finish his project (which was finished AFTER he worked at summer camp that year — surprise! ) . The troop committee said, “She did it ’cause it was her son.” I said I would do it for all the Eagle Scouts — and that was 20 eagles ago!

I am in the process of arranging an Eagle Court of Honor for my son and love to do the Court of Honor based on the ‘This is your live ‘ TV program. Is there anyone out there with sample script? I read somewhere that there was a Troop which used to do this many years ago. If anybody knows I would love to hear about it

When I was Unit Commissioner I would write to various famous people the scout (or the scout’s family) might have heard of and let the famous folks know of the upcoming ceremony. Almost every one of them would send some sort of congratulatory letter. The ones that really made a good impression was the autographed photos from Bob Hope. His secretary would write a nice letter from Mr. Hope and Bob would personally autograph a photo to the scout. Others who were forth coming were Justice Clarence Thomas, President George H. W. Bush, and many leaders of business. I was allowed to read the messages from the people at the Court of Honor, and it was a high point for the scout and the attendees. Just a little chutzpah in letting scout friendly people know what is going on will reap huge results.

I belong to the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. The Las Vegas Council helps us distribute our certificates of congratulations. They also will tell the people organizing the Eagle Court of Honor that we will come and make a presentation at the COH. WE come in Civil War uniforms and take a few minutes .

Good Idea, and as his SM was his CM back then, we can incorporate a number of pictures, and stories.
Any politician from the president on down, is more than happy to write a congratulatory letter. We have had presidents, governors, senators, congressmen, mayors, Generals, Academy commanders, and well known Scouters of our 65 year old troop, do this too.

One of the things we did to maximize momento space at the ECOH was to create a “Scouting T-Shirt Curtain” made from a square frame of plastic pipe and an old plain curtain that hung on it and attached all the T-shirts from Cub Scouts to Boys Scouts including Summer Camp & NYLT Staff. The memory of the day was when a lady came up to us and said, my husband asked me to create a day camp T-shirt 7 years ago and here it is on the curtain — she was touched. It took numerous people back down memory lane. Kudos to my daughters that got 32 T-Shirts folded and pinned to the curtain for their brother.

I called various den leaders and scout leaders and asked for pictures from all stages of my sons’ scout careers. I made a chronological scrapbook for each of them that was a big hit at each court of honor. My older son was going into the Navy just a month after his court of honor. I contacted his Navy recruiter who not only attended the ceremony but also presented him with a leather bound commendation that he had requested from the Secretary of the Navy. Our city’s mayor attended both ceremonies and presented each with a key to the city. The creativity of these ceremonies is limited only by one’s imagination.

Do the plans made by the Eagle Scout and his family have to be approved by the Committee? They do not like our venue, the date, or the fact that he does not want to share his COH with another Eagle Scout. I need advice, Thank you!

No, the Troop Committee does Not need to approve the venue, date or even have your son share his ECOH with another Scout. The ECOH isn’t even a requirement. The ECOH is done if the Eagle Scout would like it to happen as well as it is a gift from primarily his parents. Although it is a nice ceremony to have, in which the Scout’s Troop, family and friends and any other people from the community can all be in one place at the same time to honor the Scout for his Scouting accomplishments. However, the Troop Committee should be providing any assistance that they can..example; use of the Troop’s podium, any flags, banners, perhaps getting to the venue early to help set-up, etc. Now, if your Troop Committee is anything like ours, then it is best to ask any Eagle Scout’s parents what they did for their son’s ceremony, i.e. printed invitations, venue, printed programs, decorations, as well as ask (if you plan to provide dinner) other parents where they purchased food, and/or any ideas for gifts or thank you gifts. Don’t let your Troop’s Committee Chair plan your son’s ECOH. There will be a portion of the ECOH that the Troop should do as part of BSA and the Troop’s traditions, but the main planning needs to be done by the Eagle Scout and his parents.

The meal, served after the ceremony, is planned by mom, if she wishes, but often another mom or dad in the troop takes over the helps with that. The troop also provides a certain amount of funding for those vittles. After all, we have a BIG Christmas tree sale, to run the troop, annually, ad the boys have earned that, over the years. Its usually a pot luck, and the troop supplies meats, a big cake, and dinnerware.

I seen past Eagle Scouts recognized and asked to come forward and sit on chairs off to the right call the Eaglesnest say their name and date the order Eagle Scout and maybe a word of advice. I think it would also be nice to have recognize formal Scout Masters and other leaders from the Troop past as well. This ceremony is about the young man and his path to becoming an Eagle Scout with those that mentor him and guided him along the way to recognize this young man and his accomplishments. Having a slideshow of his Cub Scouts and Scouting career would be nice as well. The troop will support what his parents would like to do as well as the parents would provide the cake or luncheon or dinner or finger food after the ceremony. Videotaping and having people take pictures from different angles of the ceremony of the audience another proceedings would be nice for the new Eagle Scout to have in the future. Being prepared with a day sending several invitations to families and friends of Schouder’s as well as local state and national leaders and government to recognize this accomplishment this young man would be nice. Having the young man himself talk about his experiences in scouting the good the bad the funny on a personal level and notes. Again taking pictures of leaders of the pass his family and other people you would like that photographs with and his uniform the night of the ceremony would be nice as well. Sam options is to present the Eagle Scout with us on Eagle Scout slack as well as recognizing leaders with flowers or certificates are other awards thanking them for helping the young man along the way. As far as gifts for an Eagle Scout I got mostly cards with checks and cash in them but the one that stood out what are you achieve my Eagle Scout was from a friend my parents age they gave me a pocket knife and a dime and said in the letter this is a knife to carve your way and your place and your journey and a dime to call me if you dare ever need a friend to help or talk with. Remember this, there’s not a right or wrong way of having to Eagle Scout ceremony it’s personal I can have variations. Each is unique and special. It’s all about recognizing the young man accomplishing his Eagle Scout after years preparing and earning his way there.

We have limited dates open to us (due to crazy schedules) and are unsure if our church hall where the Troop meets will be available. Does anyone have any unique ideas for locations? We would prefer to use our house for an “after party” but not for the ceremony. Thanks for all of the comments, they have all been helpful and interesting.

We loved your suggestion abd “High Flight” is on the short list for our son’s Eagle Court of Honor!And also, we took him for portraits (Graduation, Eagle and in a suit for upcoming college job fair business cards) and picked out one in his Eagle finery. At the court of honor, we will have the portrait on display and instead of having a guest book, as guests to write something on the cardstock matting surrounding the portrait so that whenever he looks at the portrait, he will see the notes from the people that supported him along the Trail to Eagle!